can i just say that i work for some amazing people?! i was talking to the girls' mom about "crafting" a couple months ago and she offered me whatever fabric i wanted in their basement...i went down to explore during nap time one day and she has entire shelves with whole bolts of fabric on them! now, this may not mean much to you, but to the poor, beginner sewer this is amazing :) we don't have a ton of money to go stock me up on fabric...i know, you're shocked. so i went down today and picked a few scraps of materials that i liked and tried not to be greedy with the beautiful fabrics at my fingertips. it was so much fun!
the people i work for (well, pretty much EVERY family that i've worked for in the past) have been soooooooo generous. i just feel so blessed by these families. not only do i get to take a big part in raising their children, but i feel appreciated and respected and loved by the whole family in return. aka: being invited to birthday parties, staying connected, writing letters with the kids, and incredible surprise gifts of fabric :)
i am going to have so much fun playing with all this fabric and learning new patterns. soooo guess what y'all are all getting for christmas and your birthdays?!?!?!?! :)

my new hobby

ok, making jam is not really my new hobby but i hadn't posted these pictures yet and wanted to before i forgot :)
the beautiful berries before we smashed them all

here we are stirring the berries

ok, ella didn't let me stir

and here is my real new hobby. i'm learning to sew! :) now this is not perfect so don't judge me yet (it's a pincushion just in case you couldn't figure it out). i haven't sewn anything since my sophomore year of highschool and i wouldn't even boast about that. but since brandon seems to always have something to do in the evenings, i wanted something productive to do. enter: sewing projects. i have a TON of stuff on my list of things i want to try. i'm super excited!! ohhhh the possibilities :)

just a short post...we are still here. just busy :) here's a pic of us at Ella's birthday party last weekend.

Brandon has been studying like a mad-man. i just got a sewing machine! (early b-day present) and am having sooo much fun playing around with it. maybe i'll be brave and post a picture of stuff i've done soon...maybe.
hope y'all are doing good! we'd love to hear what's going on with all of y'all sometime!